


The Champion

by salt_witch



Category: The Queen's Gambit (TV)
Genre: Epilogue, F/F, F/M, Post-Series, So...I did a thing
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-06
Updated: 2020-11-06
Packaged: 2021-03-08 22:55:14
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 779
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27414604
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/salt_witch/pseuds/salt_witch
Summary: After she becomes the World Champion of chess, Beth Harmon finds that life goes on; and that may be okay. It could be good, even.
Relationships: Beth Harmon/Benny Watts, Beth Harmon/Cleo
Comments: 24
Kudos: 241





	The Champion

**Author's Note:**

> Uh...so I binged The Queen’s Gambit on Netflix in one night, and felt compelled to write this little epilogue. 
> 
> Sorry if you’re someone who’s read my other fics and is waiting for an update on either of those. I’m having major major major writers block for Zero to Hero (some changes I made in the past couple chapters make the next plot points much harder to decide on and put to paper) and I’m working on the next chapter of Ramen Girl, but dear God the Chūnin Exam Arc is long as hell.

Four years after winning the title of World Champion, Beth wonders if Borgov ever felt the way she does now. 

Bored; not because the game of chess itself has become less enjoyable, but rather because there are so few players who actually give her a challenge. She’s played against Borgov a few times over the various competitions. She’s always managed to win, after that first victory following two crushing defeats, but often it’s a narrow success. It’s exhilarating.

Townes comes out to her explicitly in 1969. She doesn’t speak for a moment at first, thought he knew that she was already aware. Thought that had been clear ever since she’d said, “Give my best to Roger”. He asks her not to tell anyone, but says he feels like it’s important for her to know. She swears to keep it a secret. Truthfully, she’d already made that promise. If not aloud, in her heart.

Harry and she agree that they’re better off as friends. They know that anything else gets messy. Still, Beth knows that if she ever needs him, he’s there. Nearby enough that they shop at the same grocery store, that he’s an electrical engineer at a factory only a zip code away. It’s enough.

Then there’s Benny. He’s still fun to play against, but they’ve gotten used to one-another’s play styles, and the games don’t last as long as they used to. He’s still quite good at speed chess; usually wins. She wins the slower games. They have sex a few more times. It’s great, but it’s also understood there’s no commitment, emotionally or otherwise. As Cleo once put it, “No woman can compete with Benny’s love for himself.”

She sees Cleo every once in a while. Only when they’re in the same city, but it almost always results in sex (and a thoroughly enjoyable evening even outside of that). Sometimes drunken, sometimes not. Beth wonders, if they both lived in Paris or Kentucky, and Cleo weren’t such a traveller, if they could be together like Roger and Townes. She decides the answer is maybe, but that ultimately it doesn’t matter, because that’s not the world they’re in now.

She still hangs out with Mike and Matt. Usually at tournaments. They’re a joy to spend time with and she’s glad that they all kept in touch, even if they gave her a hard time when they met at her first competition. Friends help. That’s something she’s found to be true, despite what her biological mother may have said. 

Most importantly, she remembers to keep in touch with Jolene. She gives Jolene an extra $10.00 along with the $3000.00 loan repayment. Thinks that Mr. Shaibel (who TIME did make sure to mention when they wrote about her) would be okay with that. She’s learned her lesson too, regrets not keeping in touch more with him, and she won’t make the same mistake when it comes to Jolene. They have breakfast together every Saturday, even though Jolene’s quite busy with her work as a paralegal.

She runs into Georgi Girev a few times during competitions through the years. She always makes it a point to say hi, and tells him that she went to a drive-in movie. His face lights up when she does and he asks her how it was. She tells him, truthfully, that it was great. He gives her condolences for the loss of her mother. They continue getting to know each other during subsequent events, until he’s just as much a friend as an opponent. He’s older than 16 now, older than he pledged to be by the time he became World Champion. She doesn’t think he minds though. He’s only 18, going on 19. He has plenty of time left. She plays him a few more times as well. He keeps getting better and better. Eventually she realizes that he’s just as good as Borgov, if not better. At last, when he’s 21, in 1974, Georgi beats Beth and becomes the new World Champion.

Beth always thought she’d be more upset if she lost her title, but in truth, it’s something of a relief. There’s someone better than her again, and the game has taken on new life. Finally, she can set her sights on the title once more. She hugs Georgi like Borgov once hugged her, loses elegantly like Luchenko (who died a year ago, which she was quite sad about). She shares a smile with Borgov, who had played at this championship tournament as well. Maybe he felt bored at one point, too, but she bets he feels the same as she does now. Excited that there’s another worthwhile rival.

**Author's Note:**

> I’m not someone who subscribes to the theory that Cleo was a secret KGB agent, so...she got her own little spotlight in this fic.
> 
> This is my first one-shot and it’s a little different from my usual writing style because usually I write in strict past-tense and this is mostly present-tense.


End file.
